“Style is about expressing yourself,” says Susanne Bartsch. “You can be whatever you want to be—a silver screen star, a Marie Antoinette baroque creature, or a Victorian punk. I love that about fashion and make-up.”

Susanne Bartsch has long been a highly visible player in New York City nightlife, with her parties known for their mix of uptown and downtown, gay and straight, high fashion, street style, and Mardi Gras extravaganza.

Her penchant for extreme fashion and make-up have made her name the equivalent of a couture label among the “Fashion Underground,” a diverse group of individuals united around a love of fashion, defined as an embodied practice of self-expression and transformation. This creative subculture distinguishes itself from the commercial, mainstream fashion system, but their extraordinary styles, often bordering on performance art, have often influenced the wider world of fashion and beauty.

Follow Susanne on Instagram: @bartschland. Share on social media with #FashionUnderground

Boutique

She Brought the English Scene to New York

Susanne Bartsch came to New York in 1981 after a decade in London. While still on a tourist visa, she opened an influential boutique on Thompson Street in Soho, featuring the work of young, cutting-edge English designers and milliners, such as David Holah (later of Body Map), Stephen Jones, and Leigh Bowery.

Later she moved to larger premises on West Broadway, and began carrying Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano. “Susanne really impacted New York fashion in the 1980s, when she brought the English scene to New York,” recalls art director Ronnie Newhouse. “She brought back the idea of the spirited boutique, designers who were outside the system, and the merging of club life and boutique.”

Installation view

Installation view

Installation view

Queen of the Night

Born in Switzerland, Susanne Bartsch moved to London as a teenager, where she became part of a vibrant music and fashion scene. Inspired by London club nights, she later began organizing spectacular events in New York City, which became famous for bringing together uptown and downtown, gay and straight, fashion and art. In 1989, drawing on the energy of her Copa Nights and the inspiration of the Harlem house balls, she organized the Love Ball, a pioneering AIDS benefit.

Love Ball and AIDS Benefits

The Love Ball (1989) was a pioneering AIDS benefit that brought together the fashion industry elite and raised $400,000 in a single night for the Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA). Bartsch went on to organize other AIDS benefits, including Love Ball 2 in New York City and the Ballade de l’Amour in Paris. Ultimately, Bartsch raised a total of $2.5 million for AIDS advocacy.

Designers

Fashion Designers on the Dance Floor

Many fashion designers attended Bartsch’s events, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Calvin Klein, and Thierry Mugler. Recalling nights at the Copacabana, Scott Ewalt says, “There were so many fashion designers on the dance floor that we used to say if a bomb went off, the entire industry would be wiped out.” Themes, such as Tropical Madness, inspired creative ensembles.

Gareth Pugh

Gareth Pugh ensemble, Spring 2015, England, Lent by Gareth Pugh.Gareth Pugh (born 1981) is a graduate of Central Saint Martins whose fantastical styles have been acclaimed by the fashion press. Style.com described Pugh as the “latest addition to a long tradition of fashion-as-performance-art that stretches back through Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, and Vivienne Westwood to the eighties club culture of Leigh Bowery.” Susanne Bartsch invited him to lend a look that he could see her wearing.

Installation view

Left: Mr. Pearl dress, Early 1980s, England | Stephen Jones Myra hat, Fall 2003, England Lent by Stephen Jones Millinery
“At first I was a little intimidated to go to Susanne’s parties,” recalls the makeup artist Kabuki. “They were like a Fellini movie.” But he quickly came to appreciate that “she chose people with a genuine artistic gift.”

Right: John Galliano corset dress and gloves, 1997, England.
Bartsch knew John Galliano since his days as a student at Central Saint Martins. In 1997, the year this dress was made, he was appointed at the renowned couture house of Christian Dior.

Thierry Mugler

Thierry Mugler’s work has always been characterized by a mixture of fashion, fetish, and fantasy. A black velvet jacket, for example, emphasizes the body’s curves—and the contrast between flesh and fabric—but it is also very strict. His femme fatale designs were perfect for Susanne Bartsch, who shares Mugler’s theatrical sensibility. She introduced him to Mr. Pearl and Abel Villareal whose expertise in corsetry and leather proved valuable.

Dress by Zaldy, 1990s, USA

Susanne Bartsch refers to the style of this Zaldy dress as “Victorian punk.” Zaldy is one of her favorite designers, and she continues to wear clothes that he designed decades ago, only styling them differently.

Nicola Formichetti is a fashion designer and editor, best known for his work with the Italian label Diesel, and has collaborated with Lady Gaga. A good friend of Susanne Bartsch, Formichetti was artistic director of Mugler from 2010 to 2013.

Pam Hogg launched her first fashion collection in 1981 and has continued to design for performers ranging from Siouxsie Sioux to Kylie Minogue. She has also performed in many bands, including Hoggdoll.

Mr. Pearl

Mr. Pearl, the South African born corsetier and tight-lacer, created many of Bartsch’s looks in the 1980s and 1990s. She introduced him to Thierry Mugler, and by the 1990s, Mr. Pearl was working for many of the top fashion designers in Paris, including Lagerfeld at Chanel, Galliano at Dior, and Christian Lacroix. “I really liked the restrictive feeling of corsets,” Bartsch recalls. “Corsets are like high heels – they just do the trick.”

Installation view

Mr. Pearl Corset and skirt

In 1989, Susanne Bartsch organized the Love Ball, a pioneering AIDS benefit held at Roseland. Combining the energy of her Copa nights and the inspiration of Harlem house balls, Bartsch organized costume competitions with celebrity judges to raise money for DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS). She commissioned her costume from Mr. Pearl, the South African-born corsetier, who would later work for many of the top fashion designers in Paris.

Mr. Pearl corset ensemble

Susanne Bartsch wore this look at the Ballade d’Amour, an AIDS benefit held at the Folies Bergère in Paris. Designers such as Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Azzedine Alaïa participated. Boy George sang, RuPaul was Master of Ceremonies, and Jonathan Newhouse published a catalogue commemorating the event. Combining all her benefits, Bartsch helped raise $2.5 million to fight AIDS.

Art Projects & Makeup

Susanne Bartsch has lived in the Chelsea Hotel ever since she first moved to New York in 1981. This part of the exhibition space is designed to evoke her much-photographed apartment, from which she has organized numerous projects involving art and transformation.

“There are certain people, like Leigh Bowery and Susanne Bartsch, who make fashion and makeup an art form—performance art,” says publicist Roger Padilha. It was very important to Susanne that the mannequins have hair and makeup, because she regards these as essential to the final look of an ensemble.

Asher Levine has created art installations for Susanne Bartsch’s Art-a-Porter project, as well as garments such as this dress. Rod Keenan is one of New York’s best-known independent hat designers.
Leather,chiffon, 2013, USA | Hat: felt, circa 2005, USA

Susanne Bartsch refers to the style of this Zaldy dress as “Victorian punk.” Zaldy is one of her favorite designers, and she continues to wear clothes that he designed decades ago, only styling them differently.

One of the first openly gay fashion designers, Jean Paul Gaultier has always been attracted to subcultural styles (such as Punk and New Romantics). He has also been an advocate of alternative beauty, using models of all ages and sizes.

Polyamide, cotton, late 1990s, France | Hat: straw, 1940s, USA

Abel Villarreal Coat and Saga NYC Bodysuit (Right)

Abel Villareal helped Bartsch source her wigs in Los Angeles, and then made this coat from synthetic hair.